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Intestinal ischaemia‐reperfusion (I/R) injury can result in acute lung injury due to ischaemia and hypoxia. Dexmedetomidine (Dex), a highly selective alpha2‐noradrenergic receptor (α2AR) agonist used in anaesthesia, is reported to regulate inflammation in organs. This study aimed to investigate the role and mechanism of Dex in lung injury caused by intestinal I/R. After establishing a rat model of intestinal I/R, we measured the wet‐to‐dry specific gravity of rat lungs upon treatments with Dex, SB239063 and the α2AR antagonist Atipamezole. Moreover, injury scoring and histopathological studies of lung tissues were performed, followed by ELISA detection on tumour necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α), interleukin (IL)‐1β and IL‐6 expression. Correlation of Caveolin‐1 (Cav‐1) protein expression with p38, p‐p38, p‐p65 and p65 in rat lung tissues was analysed, and the degree of cell apoptosis in lung tissues after intestinal I/R injury was detected by TUNEL assay. The lung injury induced by intestinal I/R was a dynamic process. Moreover, Dex had protective effects against lung injury by mediating the expression of Cal‐1 and α2A‐AR. Specifically, Dex promoted Cav‐1 expression via α2A‐AR activation and mitigated intestinal I/R‐induced lung injury, even in the presence of Atipamezole. The protective effect of Dex on intestinal I/R‐induced lung injury was also closely related to α2A‐AR/p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinases/nuclear factor‐kappaB (MAPK/NF‐κB) pathway. Dex can alleviate pulmonary inflammation after in intestinal I/R by promoting Cav‐1 to inhibit the activation of p38 and NF‐κB. In conclusion, Dex can reduce pulmonary inflammatory response even after receiving threats from both intestinal I/R injury and Atipamezole.

We present a validated liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method for simultaneous determination of 20-(S)-protopanaxatriol and its two oxidative stereoisomeric metabolites (20S,24S)-epoxy-dammarane-3,6,12,25-tetraol (M1) and (20S,24R)-epoxy-dammarane-3,6,12,25-tetraol (M2) in rat plasma. 20-(S)-Protopanaxatriol, M1 and M2 were extracted with methanol and separated on an ACQUITY HSS T3 column. The mass spectrometry detection was accomplished in selected reaction monitoring mode with precursor-to-product ion transitions of m/z 493.4→143.1 for M1 and M2, m/z 475.4→391.3 for 20-(S)-protopanaxatriol, and m/z 459.4→375.3 for 20-(S)-protopanaxadiol (internal standard). The method showed good linearity over the concentration ranges of 1–1000 ng/mL for 20-(S)-protopanaxatriol and 0.5–200 ng/mL for M1 and M2, with correlation coefficients of more than 0.995. The lower limits of quantification for 20-(S)-protopanaxatriol, M1 and M2 were 1, 0.5, 0.5 ng/mL, respectively. The intra- and inter-day precisions (RSD, %) were less than 10.41% while the accuracy (relative error, %) ranged from –3.14 to 8.73%. Under the current conditions, M1 and M2 were completely separated within 3 min. The validated assay was successfully applied to evaluating pharmacokinetic profiles of 20-(S)-protopanaxatriol, M1 and M2 in rat. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Amphibians can be more vulnerable to environmental changes and diseases than other species because of their complex life cycle and physiological requirements. Therefore, understanding the adaptation of amphibians to environmental changes is crucial for their conservation. Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) presents an excellent tool for the investigation of adaptive variations and the assessment of adaptive potential because it can be under strong diversifying selection. Here, we isolated the MHC class II B (MHCIIB) gene from cDNA sequences of the black-spotted frog (Pelophylax nigromaculatus), a widespread amphibian species in China, and designed locus-specific primers to characterize adaptive variability of this amphibian. Ten alleles were identified from 67 individual frogs of three populations and no more than two alleles were present in each individual animal. Furthermore, none of the sequences had indels or/and stop codons, which is in good agreement with locus-specific amplification of a functional gene. However, we found low polymorphism at both nucleotide and amino acid levels, even in the antigen-binding region. Purifying selection acting at this locus was supported by the findings that the dN/dS ratio across all alleles was below 1 and that negatively selected sites were detected by different methods. Allele frequency distributions were significantly different among geographic populations, indicating that physiographic factors may have strong effect on the genetic structure of the black-spotted frog. This study revealed limited polymorphism of three adjacent black-spotted frog populations at the functional MHCIIB locus, which may be attributed to region-specific differences. The locus-specific genotyping technique developed in this study would provide a foundation for future studies on adaptive divergence among different frog populations.

Background: Fatty acids and amino acids are the precursors of aliphatic and aromatic volatile compounds, higher alcohols and esters. They are also nutrition for yeast metabolism during fermentation. However, few reports have been concerned about the effect of viticulture practices on the accumulation of fatty acids and amino acids in wine grapes. This study aimed to explore the accumulation of these compounds in developing Vitis vinifera L. cv. Chardonnay grape berries under two vintages, and compare the influences of the rain-shelter cultivation and open-field cultivation.; Results: Fifteen fatty acids and 21 amino acids were detected in total. The rain-shelter cultivation led to an increase in the total concentration of fatty acids, and a decrease in the total concentration of amino acids compared with the open-field cultivation in 2012, while no significant difference was observed between two cultivation modes in 2013 vintage. Concentrations of palmitoleic acid, isoleucine and cysteine were significantly promoted in the rain-shelter grape berries, whereas those of tyrosine and ornithine were markedly reduced in both vintages.; Conclusion: The rain-shelter cultivation of wine grapes in the rainy region is beneficial for improving grape quality and fermentation activity by influence on the concentration of fatty acids and amino acids. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.; © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Introduction Aralia elata leaves are known to have several biological activities, including anti-arrythmia, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-fatigue, antimicrobial and antiviral effects. Our previous study found that triterpenoid saponins from the leaves of A. elata had antitumor effects. Quantification of the triterpenoids is important for the quality control of A. elata leaves. Objective To establish high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with evaporative light scattering detection (HPLC-ELSD) for the simultaneous determination of four major triterpenoid saponins, including Aralia-saponin IV, Aralia-saponin VI, 3-O-β-d- glucopyranosyl-(1 → 3)-β-d-glucopyranosyl-(1 → 3)-β-d-glucopyranosyl oleanolic acid 28-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (Aralia-saponin TTP)and Aralia-saponin V. Methodology The separation was carried out on a Dikma Diamonsil C18 column (4.6 mm × 250 mm, 5 μm) efficiently with gradient elution consisting of acetonitrile and water. Results All calibration curves showed good linear regression (R2 > 0.9996) within the ranges of tested concentrations. This validated method was applied to determine the contents of the four major triterpenoid saponins in 53 samples from different regions of northeast China. Hierarchical clustering analysis was first used to classify and differentiate Aralia elata leaves. Conclusion The method developed was successfully applied to analyse four major triterpenoid saponins in Aralia elata leaves which is helpful for quality control of the herb. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A rapid, sensitive, and reliable analytical ultra performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method was developed for the simultaneous determination of Aralia-saponin IV, 3-O-β-d-glucopyranosyl-(1→3)-β-d-glucopyranosyl-(1→3)-β-d-glucopyranosyl oleanolic acid 28-O-β-d-glucopyranoside, Aralia-saponin A and Aralia-saponin B after the oral administration of total saponin of Aralia elata leaves in rat plasma. Plasma samples were pretreated by protein precipitation with methanol. The analysis was performed on an ACQUITY UPLC HSS T3 column. The detection was performed on a triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer in multiple reaction monitoring mode using an electrospray ionization source with negative ionization mode. Under the experimental conditions, the calibration curves of four analytes had good linearity values (r > 0.991). The intra- and inter-day precision values of the four analytes were ≤ 11.6%, and the accuracy was between -6.2 and 4.2%.The extraction recoveries of four triterpenoid saponins were in the range of 84.06-91.66% (RSD < 10.5%), and all values of the matrix effect were more than 90.30%. The developed analytical method was successfully applied to pharmacokinetic study on simultaneous determination of the four triterpenoid saponins in rat plasma after oral administration of total saponin of Aralia elata leaves, which helps guiding clinical usage of Aralia elata leaves.

Three new lignans (1 - 3), together with four new thymoquinol glycosides (4 - 7), were isolated from 70%-EtOH extract of the rattan stems of Schisandra chinensis. The structures of 1 - 7 were elucidated by detailed spectroscopic analyses, and these new compounds were identified as pinobatol-9-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (1), 1,2,13,14-tetramethoxydibenzocyclooctadiene 3,12-O-β-d-diglucopyranoside (2), 3,7-dihydroxy-1,2,13,14-tetramethoxydibenzocyclooctadiene 12-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (3), thymoquinol 2-O-β-d-apiofuranosyl-(1→6)-β-d-glucopyranoside (4), thymoquinol 2-O-α-d-arabinofuranosyl-(1→6)-β-d-glucopyranoside (5), thymoquinol 5-O-β-d-apiofuranosyl-(1→6)-β-d-glucopyranoside (6), and thymoquinol 5-O-α-d-arabinofuranosyl-(1→6)-β-d-glucopyranoside (7). The neuroprotective activity of 1 - 7 was evaluated on PC12 cells with neurotoxicity induced by amyloid-beta 1 - 42 (Aβ1 - 42 ). Compounds 2 and 3 showed protecting activity against Aβ-induced toxicity in PC12 cells.

Classical major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I allelic polymorphism is essential for competent antigen presentation. To improve the genotyping efforts in the golden pheasant, it is necessary to differentiate more accurately between classical and nonclassical class I molecules. In our study, all MHC class I genes were isolated from one golden pheasant based on two overlapping PCR amplifications. In total, six full-length class I nucleotide sequences (A-F) were identified, and four were novel. Two (A and C) belonged to the IA1 gene, two (B and D) were alleles derived from the IA2 gene through transgene amplification, and two (E and F) comprised a third novel locus, IA3 that was excluded from the core region of the golden pheasant MHC-B. IA1 and IA2 exhibited the broad expression profiles characteristic of classical loci, while IA3 showed no expression in multiple tissues and was therefore defined as a nonclassical gene. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the three IA genes in the golden pheasant share a much closer evolutionary relationship than the corresponding sequences in other galliform species. This observation was consistent with high sequence similarity among them, which likely arises from the homogenizing effect of recombination. Our careful distinction between the classical and nonclassical MHC class I genes in the golden pheasant lays the foundation for developing locus-specific genotyping and establishing a good molecular marker system of classical MHC I loci.